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Epson Tries to One-up Google Glass with Moverio-Goggles (Video)

In the world of head-worn displays, Google Glass seems to lately get most of the praise as well as most of the dirty looks, though it's far from alone. At this year's DroidCon in London, I talked with Epson Europe product manager Marc-Antoine Godfroid about a very different kind of head-worn display: the Moverio BT-100. Epson's display is running a Google operating system, but it isn't competing with Glass, at least not directly. The hardware in this case is a relatively high-definition stereo display meant for immersion (whether that means information overlays or watching recorded video) hooked to an external control unit running Android, rather than the sparer, information-dashboard, all-in-one approach of Glass. One other big difference: Epson's stereo, full-color headset is cheaper than Glass, and available now. Hit the link below to see what it looks like.

41 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. ummm... doesn't that mean it's competing with rift by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    we don't say oculus rift is competing with glass, why would we say this is?

  2. Epson? by Gothmolly · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The maker of mediocre printers and scanners? Suddenly has a competitive product and infrastructure to Google Glass?

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    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
    1. Re:Epson? by OzPeter · · Score: 1

      The maker of mediocre printers and scanners? Suddenly has a competitive product and infrastructure to Google Glass?

      They're repurposing their old dot matrix printer technology - it brings new meaning to stabbing your eyes with hot pins.

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    2. Re:Epson? by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1

      The down shot is when the battery expires it'll likely be cheaper to purchase a completely new one, similar to their printer line.

      --
      I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
    3. Re:Epson? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The maker of mediocre printers and scanners? Suddenly has a competitive product and infrastructure to Google Glass?

      They also make displays...like projectors.

    4. Re:Epson? by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "Epson makes some serious printers and scanners"

      Their consumer shit is horridly unreliable.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  3. You'd think News-for-nerds would get it right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    But no HTML5 video tag.

  4. Re:Or don't.... by dyingtolive · · Score: 1

    Don't worry, you're not missing much. Geordi's visor from Star Trek was less goofy looking than these.

    Picture, well, picture you never getting laid again. Now imagine it being for want of a black rectangle you put over you eyes. That's what these look like.

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    Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
  5. I own these.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They are not that great.
    1. They are heavy. They feel light when holding them in your hand. One your face they are quite heavy.
    2. They don't work well with glasses. They can balance on glasses. Which works OK for a bit, but the weight distribution causes them to be uncomfortable.
    3. They run Android 2.3.
    4. Did I mention they were heavy?
    5. WHAT IS ON YOUR FACE? AUGH

  6. != google glasses by krelvin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Lets see, no camera, no motion sensors, HUGE and heavy... don't see where anyone would be comparing this to Google Glass.

    1. Re:!= google glasses by bob_super · · Score: 1

      How many media people compare random tech equipment to something remotely the same shape from apple?
      Standard click-bait.

      For once, Google is the one getting the free name-drop.

  7. "news"?! by nazsco · · Score: 4, Informative

    i know the level here is low recently... but an old product is news? with an hour long commercial introduction before the no-infomation video?!?!

    here is the fucking product page link http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Moverio/Home.do (with no information such as file type, etc)

    and here is the $500 amazon page selling it with fucking reviews http://www.amazon.com/Epson-V11H423020-Moverio-See-Through-Wearable/dp/B007ORN0LS

    1. Re:"news"?! by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 1

      Yeah... This product existed before Glass was even announced I'm fairly certain.

      It's also stuck running Froyo...

      I've seen this device in person (someone had one at the Big Android BBQ last year) and also now own Glass - it doesn't even remotely compare to Glass.

      --
      retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
    2. Re:"news"?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      My favorite review was Bijoy, the Doctor of SCIENCE, yelling at me.

  8. Epson? Oh, I know the deal. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Epson version of glass would come in with a teasingly low price, but it will include only a nominal "cartridge" and replacement cartridges would be priced somewhere north of 7999$. But you would get a c 10$ off coupon if you have Office Depot card.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  9. Personally, I'm waiting for Google Nose by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

    The pheromones are a smell to behold, I hear.

  10. Re:Or don't.... by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

    I'll pass too. Too immersed in Joni Mitchell to be watching some steenkin' video.
    Moddown to slashdot.

  11. Re:Or don't.... by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1

    Now picture how much better your girl will look using these.

    Talk about killing Beer Goggles market share.

    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  12. Glass's unavailability was a mistake by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Unlike Google, at least this product was made available to the general public on its release, not to a select few.

    Then again, has Google ever not applied the Stanford snobbery of the invite system on a product?

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  13. Downloadable Video by mfwitten · · Score: 1

    Please provide a link for downloading your video content, so that we don't have to suffer under this Flash player.

  14. Re:Wearers beware ! by CreatureComfort · · Score: 1

    The gene pool could stand to be chlorinated a bit.

    --
    "Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
    Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
  15. Re:Wearers beware ! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    Wearing stuffs like this that distract the wearers from the reality around them is dangerous.

    Not only they could walk into walls, they also could be distracted enough (like this Epson thingy which actually plays movie) to walk into the middle of a very busy thoroughfare !

    As if we haven't had enough of drivers distracted by their phones, now we are equipping the pedestrians with glasses which actually blind them from what is going on around them.

    Well, evolutionarily speaking we have kind of been coasting for awhile now... we are getting bigger and dumber (it would seem) so a thinning of the herd may be useful. Think of it as adding chlorine and a filter to the gene pool... give people the option to massively screw up and maybe win a Darwin Award.

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  16. Add motion sensor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    All they need is sort of position sensor, and it'll be better than Oculus or Google glasses for argumentation of the reality (assuming there is already 3D model of surrounding). Because it's transparent and has 3D in front of your eyes. I can definitely see the real life application for such a device. They can even mount it on helmet and add stereo cameras for real time 3d scanning in dynamic environment, and double the price. Imagine you repairing a car and "see" the internals, for example. You look at the part you are going to use and see all the parameters. It was recognized and parameters were fetched from the database. The place were it is supposed to be installed marked in 3D, so you know were to look even before opening the hood. My guess we'll see something like this soon.

  17. Next war on drugs by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    will be Tekwar?

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  18. !Google Glass competitor by umafuckit · · Score: 1

    This is really a VR headset for watching movies, playing games, etc. It's not designed for the same applications Google Glass is designed for. If anything, this is a competitor to devices such as Oculus Rift, not Google Glass.

  19. Re:Or don't.... by snooo53 · · Score: 1

    Since this is a Slashdot video, what would be really nice is if we could have some screen captures interspersed throughout the transcript.

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    The sending of this message pretty much inconveniences everyone involved.
  20. Re:Wearers beware ! by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

    Wearing stuffs like this that distract the wearers from the reality around them is dangerous.

    Not only they could walk into walls, they also could be distracted enough (like this Epson thingy which actually plays movie) to walk into the middle of a very busy thoroughfare !

    As if we haven't had enough of drivers distracted by their phones, now we are equipping the pedestrians with glasses which actually blind them from what is going on around them.

    Well, evolutionarily speaking we have kind of been coasting for awhile now... we are getting bigger and dumber (it would seem) so a thinning of the herd may be useful. Think of it as adding chlorine and a filter to the gene pool... give people the option to massively screw up and maybe win a Darwin Award.

    The problem is that such people generally don't suffer from their own mistakes; if they screw up while operating a half ton killing machine, it's not usually them that get the daisies. So what we're really saying is that people who live in areas where this kind of device is acceptable in public need to get culled.

  21. Re:Or don't.... by dyingtolive · · Score: 1

    Touche, though I'd probably need to get her a pair too.

    --
    Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
  22. The video by P-niiice · · Score: 1, Troll

    I want to personally slip cyanide into all of their fancy coffee cups and THEN watch the video.

  23. Some transcript completions / corrections by alexhs · · Score: 1

    00:19 via the light guides
    03:20 standard version ... s/doesn’t fit your/doesn't feature/
    04:20 s/while variable displays and variable technology/while wearable displays and wearable technology now took up
    05:02 at DroidCon (guessing)
    06:43 view that you just want, so, a
    s/we are the only company in the world/we are the only currently in the world/

    --
    I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
  24. == poor man's Sony HMZ-T2 by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

    This is nothing like Google Glass, or the Oculus Rift. But it is a direct competitor for Sony's HMZ head-mounted personal displays, only a little cheaper & crappier.

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  25. 960x540 by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    Yet another HMD with a really crappy resolution (960x540).

    Why is 1920x1080 (per eye) still apparently too much to expect these days?

    1. Re:960x540 by Tom · · Score: 1

      Yet another HMD with a really crappy resolution (960x540).

      This. As soon as I heard the resolution, my interest dropped to zero, then through the floor, left a hole somewhere in the basement and is probably on its way to the center of the earth right now.

      Smartphone screens have more resolution than that these days. Wake me when they've doubled it.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  26. bad reviews by farble1670 · · Score: 1

    yes, for sale on amazon for $466,
    http://www.amazon.com/Epson-V11H423020-Moverio-See-Through-Wearable/dp/B007ORN0LS

    2 stars from 5 reviews.

    these are nothing like google glass. this is like saying "i know you wanted a new bicycle, but this fruit cup is for sale NOW and at a lower cost!"

  27. Re:Wearers beware ! by gl4ss · · Score: 1

    yeah let's ban earphones because blind people might use them while walking.

    come on, you're not supposed to be walking around traffic with these on..

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  28. Re:Wearers beware ! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    So, you missed the whole "now we are equipping the pedestrians with glasses which actually blind them from what is going on around them" that I was replying to?
    Most states have distracted driving laws already in place to cover ANY distraction.

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  29. Vague memories of trying the product by mortal · · Score: 1

    I tried the product on the NAB show 2012. It felt rather gimicky at the time and gave the sensation of staring down a blurry corridor. Even without having moving imagery on the device, it was very much a distraction and something that should be used only in safe surroundings (don't walk in traffic with them). It is a very different beast from Google Glass, but I can see some industrial applications where it would work and where Glass would not. It might also be good for watching movies while safely strapped into an airplane.

  30. They should stick with what they do best by korbulon · · Score: 1

    Salts.

  31. good news/bad news by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

    The good news is that these will only cost $70.

    The bad news is that the lenses are used up after 2 months, and cost $65 to replace.

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  32. Some improvements by kilodelta · · Score: 1

    They're huge for one. They need to figure out how to scale them down a bit. Second, those flimsy cords are going to be an issue over time. With limited regular use I can see them breaking requiring a service interval.

  33. Re:Wearers beware ! by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

    So, you missed the whole "now we are equipping the pedestrians with glasses which actually blind them from what is going on around them" that I was replying to?
      Most states have distracted driving laws already in place to cover ANY distraction.

    No; distracted pedestrians (whether texting on their phone or wearing blinkers) also tend to cause more havoc than they reap, as people tend to prefer to crash into non-living objects when given the option.